I walked into the office. We just turned down $5MM in VC money due to unfavorable terms.

As I headed upstairs, our bookkeeper pulled me aside. “We can’t make payroll.”

“Tap the line of credit.”

“I have been. It’s maxed.”

“WTF?”

We were on the brink of collapse.

I just didn’t know it.

In 37 minutes, I plummeted from among the elite in a VC-led rollout…to helping lead a company that was broke.

– $934K in Vendor debt
– $741K on a LOC
– $1.7MM in the hole…
– With only a few shekels

*{%{%!!!!!!

Welcome to the Big Leagues, In Over Your Head 25-year-old Biz Moron…

3️⃣ Lessons:

1. Relentlessly review your numbers. Anything less is a death wish.
2. Hire the highest-quality people you can find—not just the ones you can afford. Otherwise, they may exhaust a line of credit – without telling you.
3. I desperately try to make business binary with a North Star of vision, values, and objectives. But, it isn’t black or white, right or wrong. Dare I say…it’s 50 Shades of Gray. There are as many ways to screw as to be screwed. There are decisions in my career that I’m not proud of – but kept businesses alive. The Utilitarian in me, fighting for the greatest good, rationalizes some of it.

Other decisions and stories, not as much.

Make sure you can lay your head on your pillow each night as you live to fight another day…

For those of you struggling right now, I see you. Keep fighting. 🥊

I’ll give you the same advice VC David Bloom gave me as I stared down the barrel of business death, “Always prefer a bloody survival over a clean death.”